Playoffs Galore
A League is in the midst of the playoffs and C League’s top two looks very close to being set, barring a very specific set of results this weekend. But enough about what’s going on in Roseville. Have you seen what’s happening in Westchester, PA?
Arena Nationals. Our two teams combined for a Round Robin record of 7-1, allowing both teams to advance to the playoffs. The only blemish was a late-game collapse by our men’s team, who lost a six-stone lead in the last two ends. Hopefully they got their bad game out of the way early.
The Katie Feldman Rink outscored their competition 41-16 to secure the #2 seed, giving them a bye through the first round. They will face the winner of the Cleveland v. Windy City matchup at 6:00 AM Pacific Time on Saturday. If they win, they will advance to the final.
The Markowski Rink has a slightly more difficult route to the finals, They play against Cleveland at 4:00 PM this afternoon in the quarterfinal. If they win that game, they will play in the semifinal at 4:00 PM Friday for the chance to play in the finals on Saturday.
A League: Most of the top seeds held serve last weekend, but it wasn’t always easy. The game between Wicks and Bally resembled a grudge match between three-quarters of a MoPac 5&U team and their Vice more than the #1 vs #8 seed that appeared on paper. The top seed jumped out to an 8-1 lead before Bally battled back to score five straight over two ends. Bally seemed to have Wicks right where they wanted them, but then their biggest competition became the clock. Bally ran out of time and ended up losing 8-6 in six ends.
Similarly, second-seed What a Curl Wants survived a scare against seventh-seed Kuhl. Entering the sixth end, they led by one with Kuhl having the hammer. One stone was hanging out at the back of the house when Shannon King took her final shot. In the end, they had to measure the seeming biter, but it turned out to be just outside the six-foot pole.
The upset of the week came in the 4 vs. 5 game, as Curl Dat Stone scored three points in the final end to tie up the game and send the game to skip shots. Ramon Cusi’s rock came to rest in the top part of the eight-foot circle. Steve Sampson’s shot came up as a biter on the front twelve-foot.
The ninth-place game also went to a tiebreaker, with Team Gunst’s skip Chuck Cech outdrawing Pegasus’s Kyle Satchwell.
What’s Next? Curl Dat Stone’s nailbiter, upset win “rewards” them with a semifinal matchup with undefeated Team Wicks on Sheet 4 this Sunday. Wicks beat Curl Dat Stone 5-1 in Game Eight, but the lower seed has been curling much better over the past month. What a Curl Wants will play Boris the Love Hammer in the other semifinal on Sheet 2. What a Curl Wants beat Boris 9-8 back in Game Five. The highest-seeded eliminated teams, Sampson and Jones, will play each other in the fifth-place game on Sheet 3. The other four teams will play each other in consolation games this week, but next week, Kuhl and Bally will play each other for seventh place.
Don’t Forget C League. C League has one more regular-season game before having a one-week playoff. Team Little has already secured a playoff berth. Team Kelly faces a win-and-in game against Skipping Stones, coming off their first victory, while Team Tudor has a chance to get in if Kelly should lose. None of the teams have played each other before. Skipping Stones won against Team Tudor by forfeit in Game Four, but the schedule never put Kelly and Little against each other.